1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of aquariums and, more particularly, to an intake tube filter for an aquarium.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
At present, aquarium filters are of two general types. The first type constitutes under-gravel filters which are placed on a bottom of an aquarium and filtered with gravel so that the entire floor of the aquarium acts as a filter. The second type is defined by above gravel filters which function to draw in fluid from above the bottom of the aquarium and subsequently pass the fluid through a filter prior to re-introducing the fluid back into the aquarium. For instance, it is known to draw in fluid through an intake tube of a filter that is suspended above the bottom of the aquarium. The fluid is then directed through an enclosure arranged outside the aquarium prior to being sent back to the aquarium. The enclosure is packed with a filter medium, such as charcoal, synthetic floss or the like, to cleanse the fluid.
Above gravel filters possess certain drawbacks. More specifically, external filters typically employ a filter tube having an intake provided with a strainer or the like that prevents fish from being drawn into the filter. However, strainers are designed to keep out larger fish, not smaller fish. For instance, fry and other small fish can often pass through the strainer and wind up in the filter. To address this problem, while also providing an additional degree of filtration, it has been proposed to place a filter over the intake. Unfortunately, available intake filters are essentially only fit to a particular intake tube, rather than to the tank. This creates a serious concern as fish can become trapped between the intake filter and a wall of the aquarium. Unless this condition is discovered quickly, the fish may be fatally harmed.
Based on the above, there exists a need for a filter for an intake tube wherein the filter is specifically designed to protect fish from being undesirably trapped between the filter tube and a wall of an aquarium. More specifically, there exists a need for a filter that can be universally fit to a wide variety of filter tubes, while preventing the ingestion of smaller fish or fry and, at the same time, ensuring that fish are not caught and trapped between the filter and a wall of the aquarium. In addition, there exists a need for an intake tube filter which is capable of performing at least a substantial portion of the filtering function.